We aren't completly alone, are we?
by The.Frozen.Pen.356
Summary: Its only a letter, right? Letters can't harm, can they? That's what Elsa thought, that was until she finds an unwanted letter on her desk. Once open, the letter only seems to bring misery and anger, could it ever help her? (T for safety)
1. Chapter 1

The snowflakes fluttered around Elsa as she slept yet another restless sleep.

_Don't be the monster you fear you are._

She turned over, her dreams full of all the things she feared.

Suddenly, Elsa awoke with a jolt, her body surrounded by the snow that had settled during her sleep.

She peered towards the window, only to find the soft silvery glow of moonlight filtering in through the glass.

Elsa sighed, and moved from her bed, knowing that she would never get back to sleep, not that she wanted to anyway.

Besides, she had work to do.

* * *

><p>As Elsa sat at her desk, she noticed a letter, it had red sealing wax on the front, unopened.<p>

She picked the mysterious letter up, and stood up, only to see that it had the mark of the Southern Isles.

Ice began to spread where her hands gripped the letter.

_Conceal, don't feel._

She took a deep breath, considering whether or not she should open it.

She was treating it like it was a life or death situation, like whatever decision she made would affect her.

_It's just a letter_, Elsa told herself, _what harm can come from reading a simple letter?_

Still, Elsa pondered the envelope, running one of her slender fingers against the edge of the paper.

Eventually, Elsa decided to open it, though she was still hesitant.

As she opened it, second thoughts began pouring into her mind, considering all of the things that could happen.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Queen Elsa of Arendelle,<em>

_I must tell you that I am truly sorry for the crimes that my son, Hans, has recently committed against you and your country, and I fully understand why you wish to end trading agreements with the Southern Isles._

_However, that is not what I am writing to you for, I would like to offer you the position of deciding his fate, considering that you were the one to be wronged, it seems only fair that you were to decide his punishment. The trial will take place in a weeks time, and I would wish that you were there, though I am aware that the boat will take three days, so I suggest that, if you are to accept, then you ready a ship as soon as you get this letter._

_I also feel that I should tell you that if you decide not to accept, Hans shall be sentenced to death._

_A life for a life._

_Yours faithfully,_

_King William of the Southern Isles_

* * *

><p>Elsa fell, limp in to the chair behind her, unsure of what to do.<p>

_'A life for a life', but he didn't kill, did he?_

Elsa's mind was a blur, she couldn't think straight.

_Did he really kill?_

Everything already seemed out place, and now the world was just a little bit more abstract to her.

Sleepless nights had already taken their toll on Elsa's mind, but this threatened to push her over the edge.

_Conceal, don't feel._

Ice began to creep along the floors and up the walls.

_Why am I worrying so much?_

A loud knocking came from the other side of the door, causing the ice to cover everything in an instant.

"What?!" Elsa snapped, irritated the someone had brought her away from her clouded thoughts.

"Sor-ry," Anna commented, sarcastically, as she swung the door open.

"No, no, Anna, I should be the one to be apologising, it's just that I have been unable to sleep properly for weeks not, and when I do sleep I feel worse when I wake up, plus, I tend to get tired during the day, but I have so much work to do," Elsa paused to gesture towards her desk, which was piled high with everything that Elsa needed to sort through, and to take a deep breath before she continued, "and by the time I can actually get to sleep, my worries that kept me from sleeping before, usually return, if not they would have been replaced by new worries that the day has brought, and we all know what happens when I let my emotions get the better of me,"

Elsa's words sent a shiver up Anna's spine, but she smiled sympathetically at her sister, knowing how she could be.

"-And now, this letter," Elsa finished with a sigh, as she gestured to the piece of paper laying on her desk, posing no threat to her, yet it worried her so, thawing the ice that was around the room.

"El-sa," Anna moaned, light-heartedly, "really?"

Elsa passed Anna the letter, as Anna raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't you get letters everyday, Elsa?" she teased as her delicate fingers ran down the edge, catching so that she could reopen the letter.

Unfolding the letter, Anna flopped into the nearest chair, emphasising that she thought that Elsa was making a big deal, scrunching up her eyes, stretching out her arms and yawning as she prepared to open up the letter.

Before doing so, she looked back to Elsa, as if to ask whether the letter was really worth the fuss. Elsa looked back with pleading eyes, full of fear, sighing Anna finished opening the letter, reading it intently.

Anna's eyes widened as she read, unsure what to say she read the letter over and over, again and again, thoughts of disbelief flooding her mind, but with each time she read it, she was becoming more and more sure of what it was saying.

After looking over the letter nearly one hundred times, Anna finally looked up, instantly locking eyes with her sister.

"What is there to worry about, Elsa?" She commented, cocking her head, "The answer is obvious, just let him die."

She said this with no emotion in her voice, as if she had rehearsed it, as if she wanted him to die.

"But, Anna... He did not kill anyone." Elsa whispered, only just loud enough for her sister to comprehend.

"No, he didn't, you're right," Anna said, agreeing with her sister trying to make her feel better, "But he did make two attempts to murder people,"

"No, Anna, no," Elsa murmured, "No, he didn't, he did not try to kill _two _people,"

"Elsa, do not think like that!" Anna almost shouted.

"Oh, Anna, who are we kidding?" Elsa sighed, shaking her head, then resting her head in her hands, "He only tried to kill me. Not you. That was me."

"No. Elsa, no," Anna said sympathetically, "You did nothing wrong."

"Yes. Anna, yes, I did do something," Elsa corrected, "And, there was no way that that man could ever have saved you, he did not love you, there was nothing he could do for you,"

"He didn't have to lock me in that room, did he?! No?!" Anna shouted, standing up "He didn't have to keep me away from finding my true love, did he?! He didn't have to keep me from finding Kristoff, did he?!"

Elsa stood up in a rage, flinging he chair back, shooting ice around the room, walking to wards Anna, "Anna?! How have you not figured it out yet?!" Elsa screamed, "this _'true love' _that you keep talking about does not _exist_! And if it did, it would certainly not be some stupid _slob_ like Kristoff! It would be a prince!"

Anna looked up to Elsa, trembling, "You are wrong! Oh, you are so, so, so wrong! You, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, the esteemed Snow Queen, you are wrong!" she stuttered angrily, "Just you wait! Do what you want! Leave him to die! Go and see him! I don't care what you do! Just stay away from me! If you don't believe in true love, then so be it! Well, I do! And I love Kristoff! And he loves me!" Anna let lose on Elsa, hating that she had questioned her relationship with Kristoff, "Do you know what else? It _is _true love," her voice was nothing but a hiss now, and Elsa had moved away from her, worried that she might do something to her, "So leave Hans to die! Go and save him! Or just do _whatever _you want! Because I don't care!"

"Fine Anna, I will do what I want! I will go and save him! Do you want to know why?! Because I no longer trust your judgement! I mean I was unsure about it before, when you came to me with Hans, but you knew no better! But, I figured, that after that episode you would have realised that you cannot just fall in love at first sight, without knowing a thing about them! Though it appears that you have learnt _nothing_!" Elsa screamed back, using her ice to push Anna out of the room, shutting the doors with a gust of wind.

_Looks like I've got a trip to plan... _

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><p><strong><em>Hey guys!<em>**

**_Hope you like my new story, please review._**

**_I have been reading loads of stories like this, so I wanted to put my own twist on it, since in most Hans and Elsa often end up married, which is just wrong!_**

**_So, I figured that I could put my own twist on that kind of story, i.e. NO marriage!_**

**_Please leave me with your comments, no icy comments_**

**_Will try to update soon_**

**_Also, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated_**

**_Thanks for reading_**

**_The. Frozen. Pen. 356_**


	2. Chapter 2

The wind blew fiercely against the sails, rocking the ship violently , threatening to overturn it.

It had been just one day at sea, and Elsa was already beginning to regret her decision on leaving Arendelle.

She and Anna still weren't speaking, mostly because Anna thought that Elsa was going to die, so therefore was not happy about her leaving, even more so than she was before. Though she had sent Elsa a reassuring smile before she left, saying that she forgave her and just wanted her sister to come back alive.

Elsa was now doubting that she would even get to the Southern Isles alive, let alone back to Arendelle.

_Why did I come?_

Suddenly, a huge wave came crashing over the side of the boat, nearly taking it down as it splashed back into the sea.

_This was a terrible idea, I should have listened to Anna._

Standing on deck she felt a chill go down her spine, though it was not due to the cold rain that was falling, it was the thought of her parents and their deaths.

_I could end up like them, deep beneath the cruel ocean wave. But who would Anna have then? Kristoff?_

The thought of him sent yet another shiver up her spine, there was something about him that she just couldn't put her finger on, though she knew Anna was too naïve to see or feel it.

"Your Majesty!" One of the crew members shouted, snapping Elsa out of her daze, "You need to get back to your cabin! Now!"

Doing as she was told, Elsa ran to her cabin, though she was not quite fast enough. Not a second before she would have made it to her cabin had another wave came crashing down on to the deck. She put her hands up, feeling a sense of foreboding, and shot her ice upwards, hoping that it would be enough to save her...

* * *

><p>The next thing Elsa knew, someone was angrily bashing their fist against the door to her cabin.<p>

"You up yet?!" They bellowed rudely, "We've docked!"

Elsa went to reply, but no words came, though it was probably just as well, she doubted that they would have wanted to hear what she had to say.

Wearily, Elsa swung her legs off of the bed, a dull ache paining her as she did.

_What happened?_

Ignoring her body screaming at her to stop, she stood up, and prepared to create a suitable dress for the occasion, but she stopped unable to create any ice.

She looked to her hands, wondering what had happened, she didn't have her gloves on, yet she still couldn't conger up a single snowflake.

She sat back down, and tried again, waving her hand to produce a small snowball, but to no avail.

_Odd._

After ten minuets she gave in attempting, her powers gone. She shivered, not because of thought this time, like she usually would. No, this time it really was because of the cold.

She would have to wear one of her old dresses that she had packed, thanks to the thoughtfulness of her maid, Gerda, of course, because if it hadn't been for her she would have tried to rely on her ice powers...

"Well, are you up or not?!" Came the same gruff voice that had disturbed her earlier.

Elsa went to reply but did not, knowing that, yet again, even if she could say something this time, they still wouldn't want to hear what she had to say. She simply stood up, casually sliding on the first dress that she could, and adding the gloves for good measure, before swinging the door open within seconds of the second calling.

"I suggest you do not speak to me like that again, do you understand?" She seethed, still calm, coldly, making sure only the man she was talking to could hear her.

Without waiting for his answer, she flounced off, her attitude and presence both harsh, showing that she was not the person that you would want to pick a fight with right then and there.

* * *

><p>The gates were opened hastily, apparently they had not expected Elsa to come so soon, if at all.<p>

Never the less, Elsa kept up her cold attitude, if she couldn't harm them with her ice, she was going to give them the impression that she could.

"We are so, so, so ,so-" stuttered the Queen Astoria of the Southern Isles, "so, sorry, Queen Elsa"

Elsa moved her hand to the shaking woman's shoulder, "No, No, I should have written first, but you see I had to come as fast as I could, I have a large fear of water..." Elsa explained, "And I had to come before my fear got the better of me..."

There was a long silence, as each queen played back the horrible truth of what had happened nearly four years ago.

"I am so sorry for your loss Queen Elsa, the seas are harsh and unforgiving, taking down the most innocent of people," Astoria sympathised.

Elsa could feel tears threatening to fall, but if she let them fall, she knew that they would take her cold presence away, and she couldn't afford that.

Not right then.

She had to wait for her powers to come back.

And who knew when that was.

They continued to walk in silence, all the way to the great hall, where the king, Alfred, was waiting for them.

The doors to the room were tall and overly decorated, towering over every other door, leaving Elsa to begin to feel slightly uncomfortable.

Still, Elsa stood patiently waiting for Alfred to beckon her in, doing her best not to ask for anything more out of their hospitality.

"Please, Queen Elsa, come on in," he offered, just like she had expected.

She was given a slight push by Astoria to go in, though she could have made her own first steps.

The whole room was just as intimidating as the door, showing off that the Southern Isles was powerful and rich, more so than Arendelle, and Elsa knew that they could destroy Arendelle within days. So she couldn't risk doing something to anger them.

_Make one wrong move and everyone will know._

"Queen Elsa, I am glad that you accepted my offer, I would feel terrible knowing that my son was gone, though not few were fond of him, I was, and I could never live with the fact that he left the earth before me," Alfred said, with a hint of hurt in his voice, as if he actually meant it.

Elsa knew that he didn't.

_Remember what A_nna _told you._

Still, she didn't let them know that she knew how fake they were. That would mean cause for disaster.

"So what is it that you want to do?" He continued, "About Hans' sentence that is,"

Elsa went to reply, opening her mouth, but choked on her words, it seemed every power she had was being taken off of her that day, "I..." she stuttered, pausing to cough, "I would like to... um... See... Your son, before I... make my decision."

Alfred turned away for a moment, confronting his wife, obviously unsure about Elsa's proposition.

After putting in, what could only have been a couple of minuets worth of thought, they both turned back to Elsa, hesitating only to nod in agreement to each other, before looking towards Elsa.

"Queen Elsa," Astoria started, her voice shaking nervously.

"Let me," Alfred offered his wife, without an answer, he continued, "Queen Elsa, we would love for you to see our son, before you make the decision, would you prefer if a guard accompanied you?"

"No, I would rather not, but thank you for the offer," Elsa replied, trying to sound as polite as possible, "I would just like some directions,"

"Very well" Alfred commented, gesturing in the direction of, what Elsa guessedwas, Hans' room...

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><p><strong><em>Hello all you lovely people,<em>**

**_Thank you for all the follows and reviews, they are all very much appreciated._**

**_Just thought that I would confirm that there will be no specific time limit that I will stick to, but I will try to update as often as I can, it depends on when the inspiration comes to me._**

**_Please review and suggest (by either review or pm)_**

**_The Frozen Pen 365. _**


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa stood outside the door, staring at it, she knew what lied in the room, so why was she so hesitant about knocking on the door.

_It's just a door, _she tried to tell her self, not that it helped much.

_Sure, and he is just the guy who tried to detach my head from the rest of my body, _was her argument.

She raised her already clenched fist to the door in an attempt to knock, but before doing so, she removed one of her gloves, testing out her magic. Still, nothing happened.

Replacing her glove, she stood back, unsure of what she was doing. She could no longer protect herself, yet he could still harm her.

But, if she did not go in, she would never know what the sentence should be.

She had to go in, she wasn't one to make decisions based on her gut feeling, she usually put a lot of though into every little thing she did- an exception being what happened the night of her coronation. And she wasn't about to start being one of those people.

She raised her hand to knock again, though she barely touched the large wooden door, but he had still, somehow, heard what little noise her clothed knuckles made, "Come in" called the voice that haunted her sleep, only this time the voice was not in her head, it was real.

She considered going in, though she knew she had been invited in, she was sure that if he knew that it was her knocking that he would not be letting her in so easily.

_You can't back down now._

Quietly, she opened the door, just enough so that she could tell the whereabouts of the fallen prince. He was sat on a large seat, just in front of the large window that stood opposite the door, letting the bright sunlight in, though, the lighting in the room was still gloomy.

Hans was lost in his thoughts staring aimlessly out into the world that seemed to hate him so much. He didn't even turn a blind eye towards Elsa as she opened the door, just a little wider so that she could step inside, closing the door behind her.

As she stepped inside, Elsa noted that the room was much to hot for her liking, but after a short while the temperatue began to drop, to what would be considered normal for any other room.

"Elsa," Hans said, taking Elsa by surprise.

_How did he know it was me?_

"I knew it was you because, it is now slightly cooler than it was before,"

_Can he read my mind?!_

He turned to face Elsa, his emerald green eyes looked broken, almost tearing out her soul as she caught them, but she was quick to rip away.

"Well, did you come here for a reason, or just to stare at me?" He commented, fearlessly, "Not that I mind, I am aware just how handsome I really am."

Elsa looked taken aback as what had just been the expression of someone who had been through terrors too horrific to imagine, gone, only to be replaced by a cocky smirk.

"Need I remind you of who you are talking to, Hans?" Elsa spat, "You are talking to the _only person _who can effect whether you die or not!"

Though Elsa's words came close to taking their toll on him, Hans blocked her out, she had come to see him about his sentence.

_How fun._

As if he hadn't had enough grief from his father, telling him that if she were to come, and if he wanted to live, he would need to convince Elsa that he was worthy, even if his family had already dismissed him as unworthy.

Apparently, it was only his father and Elsa who believed that he could be worthy.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Elsa asked, annoyed that all of her ranting had gone to waste.

"No."

"'_No_'?!" Elsa was furious, "Do you not care whether you live or die?!"

Hans sighed, looking into her eyes yet again, "Do you want me to be honest?"

Elsa nodded, still wanting to find out more, before she made her decision. Even though she clearly had more than enough evidence to let him die.

"I want to die." Hans whispered in reply, turning his back to Elsa, resuming his thoughts as he stared back out into space again.

_He wants to die?_

The air began to heat up again, though there seemed to be no reason for it, but it left Elsa feeling weaker than ever as she stood, watching Hans as he fell silent.

Gone was the man who she had met a short while away, never knowing when he should stop talking, replaced by a man with few words to say. She stared in awe at the changed man in front of her.

Then it struck her.

What if he was never the man that had gone out of his way to take her crown?

What if it was all just an act?

Anna had told her all he had told her that night before they had gotten engaged, of course she had just dismissed it as an act, but now... She didn't know what to think.

He was sitting in front of her, his life in her hands, yet he was doing nothing to protect it.

Something must have happened to him to make him feel like this.

_But what was it?_

_Wait a minuet, if it was all just an act in the first place, then this may be too._

_Why would he be lying now?_

_To save himself, of course!_

Elsa sighed with relief as an wave of happiness went through her, glad that she was too smart for him.

Still, she played along with Hans' little game, hoping to know just a little more about the man before her.

"And, pray tell me, Hans, what is it that has lead to you feeling like this?" She questioned, turning her visit into an inquiry into her _almost_-murderer.

"I can't tell you that." Hans spat, looking to the floor, not wanting to look Elsa in the eye.

_He obviously struggling to make up a story to tell me._

"I believe you can, that is, if you are telling the truth, and that this is _not _another one of your twisted schemes," Elsa retorted, "which, I'm _sure _it isn't. Is it Hans?"

"I just can't tell you, why can't you just let it go?! Don't you have a death sentence to be planning?"

"Why can't you tell me, _Hans_?" she pushed, not willing to give up.

The room fell silent, as a key turned in the now shut door, locking it.

After a moment of silence, Hans spoke, gesturing to the door, "That's why..."

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><p><em><strong>Hello my lovelies!<strong>_

_**I am sorry that it has been so long, but I have been a bit busy.**_

_**But I hope you liked this chapter, and I will try to update again in the next few days.**_

_**So, I guess you guys have figured out that they are truly trapped, with no way out. So... I wanted to ask if you had any ideas about what should happen.**_

_**If not, I do have a few ideas, but I do love your input.**_

_**Please leave a review or PM me.**_

_**xx**_

_**Thanks for reading,**_

_** .Pen.365**_


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